Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the death
penalty might be re-introduced to deal with the instigators of
the failed coup on the government.

At least 250 died and over 1,100 people were injured during a
violent uprising that started on Friday evening in Turkey. A part
of the Turkish army attempted to stage a coup that was eventually
thwarted.

Government forces have detained almost 3000 people deemed to have
participated in the coup, according to AFP, and nobody yet knows what will
happen to the detained.

Witnesses reported seeing supporters of Erdogan attacking a group
of soldiers who had surrendered after taking part in the coup,
before police intervened to rescue them,
Reuters reports.

During the night, Erdogan had repeatedly urged his supporters to
take to the streets to help put down the coup.

When asked whether the death penalty — which is not in the
constitution — would be an option, Yildirim said that the
government would consider legal changes, the Guardian reports.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already promised that
those who committed the "act of treason" would have to "pay
a heavy price."

Policemen
protect a soldier from the mob after troops involved in the coup
surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey July 16,
2016.REUTERS/Murad
Sezer

He also said the coup was an opportunity to "purge the
military" from mutineers, whom he accuses of being followers
of cleric Fethullah Gulen who is in exile and
lives in the United States. Gulen enjoys support from the
judiciary and military in Turkey and Erdogan has long said that
he was trying to overthrow the government.